Sam Houston - Central Arkansas Game Notes
11/18/2014 1:46:00 PM | Football
BEARKATS PLAYING FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP
For the seventh time in its 28 seasons in the league, Sam Houston State plays its final regular season game with a Southland Conference championship on the line. A victory over Central Arkansas Saturday clinches at least a tie for the title with Southeastern Louisiana. Both teams lead the 2014 league race with 6-1 marks.
The Bearkats hoisted the championship trophy after five of those six final games. Only once did Sam Houston fail to come through with a win for the crown. Those results:
1991 - SHSU 20, at Southwest Texas 14 - Co-Champions with McNeese State
2001 - SHSU 31, at Southwest Texas 13 - Co-Champions with McNeese State
2004 - at SHSU 27, Texas State 7 - Co-Champions with Northwestern State
2006 - Texas State 28, at SHSU 21 - finished as runner-up to McNeese State
2011 - at SHSU 43, Northwestern St. 17 - Southland Champions
2012 - SHSU 52, at Northwestern St. 17 - Co-Champions with Central Arkansas
BEARKATS VERSUS BEARS SERIES RECORD
While Sam Houston's rivalry with Central Arkansas is young, the series has become intense with the Bears holding a 5-3 lead in victories. UCA has won the last two meetings. The Bearkats' wins came in 2009, 2010 and 2011. SHSU is 2-2 against Central Arkansas in Huntsville.
LAST YEAR'S GAME: Central Arkansas 49, Sam Houston 31
An injured Brian Bell, who did not start for only the second time in his 51 games to that point, came off the bench to rally the Bearkats in last year's 49-31 loss to the UCA Bears in Conway. With the Kats down 28-3, Bell came in to pass for 327 yards as SHSU cut the margin to 42-31 with 14:03 left to play. The Bears turned a turnover on an attempted punt return into a one-yard score to pad their lead back to 18 points, 49-31 with 5:40 left in the game.
KATS SEEKING FOURTH CONSECUTIVE FCS PLAYOFF BERTH
By winning, Sam Houston could put itself in position to become only the second team in Southland Conference history to earn four consecutive FCS playoff berths. McNeese made five consecutive post-season appearances in 1991 through 1995 and four from 2000 to 2003.
Sam Houston State reached the FCS National Championship Game in 2011 and 2012 and the second round last season. SHSU, North Dakota State and New Hampshire are the only three FCS programs to participate in each of the last three post-season playoffs.
The Bearkats and the Cowboys hold the league's top two FCS playoff records. Sam Houston stands 10-7 in post-season play while McNeese is 11-15.
TWO VICTORIES THIS SEASON OVER FCS TOP 25 OPPONENTS
Sam Houston has wins over two FCS Top 25 teams, defeating McNeese when the Cowboys were No. 4 on Oct. 11 and No. 23 Stephen F. Austin Nov. 1 at the 89th "Battle of the Piney Woods" at NRG Stadium, the home of the NFL Houston Texans.
THE BEARKAT OFFENSE
Sam Houston ranks third in the Southland and 17th nationally with 469.2 yards total offense per game. The Bearkats have scored 420 points (37.3 per game), fourth in the league. In their seven Southland Conference contests, the Kats have averaged 496.6 total offense yards each game and have out-scored opponents 303 points to 131.
RUNNING BACK KESHAWN HILL SHSU'S OFFENSIVE SENIOR LEADER
For a senior running back who has started only 10 games in his four years, Keshawn Hill has amassed an amazing number of career marks in the Sam Houston football record book.
Hill ranks No. 2 in career touchdowns (34), No. 3 in rushing TDs (32), No. 5 in total points (228), No. 6 in career all-purpose yards (3,457) and No. 10 in rushing yards (2,153).
This season, the Klein product ranks No. 6 in FCS scoring (10.8 points) and No. 16 nationally in rushing touchdowns (16). He stands No. 5 this season in the Southland with 124.5 all-purpose yards per game and ranks as the league's fourth leading rusher (75.7).
Hill posted a career best 198 yards rushing on 17 carries in the Northwestern State game. The total included touchdown runs of 74, 66 and 3 yards. The 198 yards ranked as the 13th best single game performance by a Bearkat. In the victory over SFA, Hill rushed 14 times for 154 yards. He became only the fourth SHSU running back to score four TDs in a game.
PLENTY OF NEW FACES ON THE 2014 BEARKAT FOOTBALL SQUAD
When Sam Houston opened the 2014 season August 23 at Eastern Washington, there were 18 players in the starting lineup who did not start in the spring game. Only seven players who started during the 9-5 campaign in 2013 returned this year.
In the Bearkats' Southland Conference games, only two seniors have started -- running
back Keshawn Hill on offense and safety Michael Wade on defense. In the Kats' league games, four freshmen and eight sophomores have been among the starting 22.
Several transfers from FBS programs joined the team this fall including LaDarius Brown (WR-TCU), Derrick Edwards (WR-Texas Tech), Josh Hunt (LB-Wake Forest), Jacobi Hunter (DT-California), Jarrell Oliver (RB-Utah), Trenier Orr (CB-Cincinnati), Jalen Overstreet (RB-Texas), Ernest Payton (CB-Missouri) and Xavier Smith (CB-Missouri).
SOPHOMORE QUARTERBACK JARED JOHNSON
Sophomore Jared Johnson is the starting quarterback for the Kats this fall after serving as a back-up in 2013 to All-Southland Conference quarterback Brian Bell (Sam Houston's all-time passing and total offense leader).
The South Grand Prairie product ranks fourth in the Southland Conference in total offense with 2,739 yards (249.0 average). He stands as the league's No. 5 passer (176 of 316 passes for 2,053 yards). He is the Kats' second-leading rusher with 127 carries for 686 yards.
Johnson was Southland and FCS national offensive "player of the week" after accounting for
382 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in a victory over No. 4 ranked McNeese State. He set an SHSU single game school record for most yards rushing by a QB (190). Included in the total were touchdown runs of 73 and 67 yards. Johnson also threw for 193 yards with touchdown passes of 22 and nine yards.
OTHER KEY FIGURES IN BEARKAT OFFENSE
Donavan Williams from ASA College has 86 rushes for 569 yards and 6 TDs while Texas transfer Jalen Overstreet has 68 rushes for 564 yards and 4 TDs. Overstreet is averaging 7.9 yards per carry while Williams gains 6..6 yards each rush. LaDarius Brown, a transfer from TCU, has 26 catches for 361 yards. Donald Jackson III, Zachary Stevens and Brandon DeWitt all were starters in the offensive line last year.
TWO BEARKATS ON JERRY RICE WATCH LIST
Two Sam Houston redshirt freshmen - wide receiver Yedidiah Louis and defensive lineman P. J. Hall - are included on the "watch list" for the Jerry Rice Award presented annually to the top FCS freshman by The Sports Network.
Louis leads the Bearkats with 48 catches for 593 yards. The New Orleans native is one of only three freshmen in the FCS national top 80 with 4.3 receptions per game.
Hall ranks No. 25 in FCS tackles for losses with 18 for 68 yards. The Seguin product has 57 total tackles including five sacks. He is one of only two freshman in top 50 in FCS tackles for loss this season. His 18 TFLs rank as the 6th highest single season total in Bearkat history.
Hall intercepted a pass at Northwestern State and has two blocked kicks to his credit. He is a two-time Southland "Defensive Player of the Week" winner. He earned the honor for his play in Sam Houston's league victories at Lamar and over No. 4 ranked McNeese State.
THE BEARKAT DEFENSE
Senior safety Michael Wade and sophomore tackle Sione Latu are the only two starters this season who were in the starting line-up last year.
Wade, a preseason All-Southland selection, leads the Bearkats with 75 tackles (45 solo) and has two interceptions this season and five in his career. He ranks 10th in SHSU career annals with 237 stops in four years.
Latu has 31 tackles this year. Linebackers Tristan Eche and Myke Chatman have made 64 and 60 tackles, respectively. Cornerback Trenier Orr, a transfer from Cincinnati, ranks No. 4 in the Southland with 4 interceptions this year. He returned his first pick 55 yards for a touchdown in the Eastern Washington game.
In his first collegiate start against Abilene Christian, freshman linebacker A. J. Davis led Sam Houston with 8 tackles. He returned a fumble 27 yards for a TD and had 2 tackles for losses. Davis has 40 tackles to his credit this year.
The Kats limited the No. 4 ranked McNeese Cowboys to 298 total yards. McNeese passed for only 89 yards and gained just 209 on the ground. Sam Houston allowed McNeese only one score through the first three quarters as the Bearkats built a 35-7 lead.
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
In Sam Houston's Southland Conference games, the Kat defense has created 16 turnovers (7 fumble recoveries, 9 interceptions) while the SHSU offense has given up 10.
The Bearkats intercepted three passes at Northwestern State. Sam Houston recovered three Abilene Christian fumbles. The Wildcats had not lost a fumble in its first eight games 2014.
LACHLAN EDWARDS HAVING OUTSTANDING SEASON AS PUNTER
Junior Lachlan Edwards from Hastings, Victoria in Australia ranks No. 7 in FCS punting with a 44.3 average. He has 20 punts of more than 50 yards this season with a long of 59. Results of his punts have included 22 fair catches and 25 inside the 20.
With a 43.6 average in his two seasons at SHSU, he stands No. 2 in all-time punting average, trailing only Ryan Klaus, a Bearkat Hall-of-Honor member with a 44.8 average in 1995-98.
Edwards set a school record with his 49.8 average on five punts at Northwestern State. The previous record of 49.5 yards by Klaus stood for 16 years. Edwards' punts against the Demons covered 39, 49, 53, 51 and a then season best 57 yards.
SOPHOMORE KICKER LUC SWIMBERGHE
All-Southland Conference kicker Luc Swimberghe joins Miles Bergner of South Dakota and David Last of San Diego as the only FCS kickers still perfect in their field goal attempts this year.
Swimberge is 13-of-13 and has totaled 90 points, going 51 of 53 on his PATs.
The sophomore from Tyler earned Southland "Special Teams Player of the Week" honors after the McNeese victory. He kicked a season-best 44-yard field goal (the second longest of his career) and was 5-of-5 on PATs against the Cowboys.
Swimberghe is climbing in the SHSU career scoring standings. He now ranks No. 4 all-time with 187 career kicking points and No. 2 in PATs (124).
RECORDS FALL IN 76-0 VICTORY OVER HOUSTON BAPTIST
Sam Houston's 823 yards total offense and 601 yards rushing in a 76-0 victory at Houston Baptist Nov. 15 both were school marks. The previous highs were 656 yards total offense versus McNeese State in 2004 and 501 rushing against Tarleton State in 1974. The 76 points were the 5th highest single game total for the Kats. The record is 83 against Brooke Medical in 1949.The 76-point margin of victory and points tied Southeastern Louisiana's Southland marks which also came against HBU.
THREE 100-YARD RUSHERS IN SAME GAME
Donavan Williams (13 for 212, 3TDs), Cory Idlebird (14-138, 2 TDs) and Jalen Overstreet (8-130, 2 TDs) all rushed for more than 100 yards in the 76-0 victory over HBU. Only once before have when Ken Rodgers (11-180), James Oliphant (14-122) and Joe Vickers (18-103) accomplished the feat in 1974 against Tarleton State.
Two SHSU backs have rushed for 100 yards or more in the same game 11 times.
